Twenty years to the day since Exceed And Excel won the Group One Newmarket Handicap, Darley Australia announced the retirement of the stallion from stud duties.
The 23-year-old put in 20 seasons at Kelvinside in the Hunter Valley, along with 16 consecutive seasons shuttling to Darley’s Northern Hemisphere headquarters at Dalham Hall. By the time his final crop arrives in Australia next spring he would have produced over 3000 foals.
He’s been champion sire in Australia and Hong Kong, has had 215 worldwide stakes winners in 17 different countries, and his service fee in Australia has ranged from an entry-point $55,000 to the career high of $132,000, on which he is retiring.
If you multiply the number of foals by the service fee they have been conceived from across the world, he has produced an astonishing $250 million worth of bloodstock. His progeny, meanwhile, have earned over $270 million.
“He’s been the most remarkable horse,” says Alastair Pulford, head of stallions at Darley Australia. “I mean, you could almost say he was a foundation stallion because we started the business at Kelvinside in 2003, and he started with us in 2004.
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